Frequency and Risk Factors of Tracheomalacia in Patients Undergoing Thyroidectomy

It was a descriptive cross-sectional study to determine the frequency and risk factors of tracheomalacia in patients undergoing thyroidectomy. One hundred and forty-nine patients underwent thyroidectomy at MTI-Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar between 1st January 2021 and 1st March 2022. The frequency of post-thyroidectomy tracheomalacia and possible associated factors were determined. The inclusion criteria were patients of either gender, between 18 to 70 years fulfilling criteria of clinically diagnosed cases of thyroid disorders who underwent subtotal, hemi, near or total thyroidectomy for their respective thyroid diseases. Post-thyroidectomy tracheomalacia was recorded in 18 patients (12.1%): Seventeen patients were aged less than 30 (p-value 0.038) and 14 (77.8%) patients had a duration of surgery > three hours (p-value <0.001). Young female patients with multinodular goitre who had a longer duration of surgery developed post-thyroidectomy tracheomalacia more frequently. Hence, the incidence of post-thyroidectomy tracheomalacia can be markedly reduced with proper preoperative assessment and postoperative measures. Key Words: Thyroid gland, Thyroid disorders, Tracheomalacia, Thyroidectomy.